Keir Starmer to step down? Fighting for political survival, UK PM says ‘not prepared to walk away’ — what we know so far

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told his MPs on Monday that he is "not prepared to walk away from my mandate", hours after Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called on him to go.

Starmer is under scrutiny over his controversial late 2024 appointment of Peter Mandelson as Britain’s US ambassador. Amid the uproar, many believe that Starmer's tenure may be coming to an end.

The UK PM was quoted by the BBC as saying in a private meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party, "Every fight I've been in, I have won."

2. The latest tranche of Epstein Files showed the depth of Mandelson's ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

3. The revelations raised questions over Starmer's judgement, while polls show the prime minister's popularity tanked just 18 months after he won a landslide election.

4. Chief of staff Morgan McSweeney was forced out on Sunday for influencing the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, and Tim Allan — Starmer’s director of communications — subsequently quit on Monday “to allow a new Number 10 team to be built.”

5. Recently, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called on Starmer to quit. Sarwar became the most senior party figure to pull his support from the premier on Monday after two key aides quit Starmer’s office.

"The distraction needs to end and the leadership in Downing Street has to change," Sarwar was quoted by the BBC as saying.

6. With the scandal around Peter Mandelson's appointment still raging, and ballot-box tests at which Labour is expected to perform poorly just around the corner, Starmer has pacified colleagues casting around for someone to replace him — for now.

7. What followed was a flurry of support for the prime minister from his cabinet, with a stream of supportive statements, many as Sarwar was speaking. A key moment came when his former deputy Angela Rayner offered Starmer her "full support."

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch branded Starmer’s position “untenable” – a sentiment shared by several other party leaders

8. Starmer then addressed a packed meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party, telling them he is "not prepared to walk away from my mandate" and that he has won "every fight I've been in"

9. There is no formal confidence vote procedure to oust a Labour leader, and any challenger will need the support of 80 lawmakers, or one-fifth of the party in the House of Commons, to trigger a contest.

10. While no clear front-runner has emerged, there are a few potential contenders who could succeed Starmer. They include, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, Former Cabinet minister Andy Burnham, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Reuters had reported earlier.

(With inputs from agencies)